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Pixietoadstool

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Everything posted by Pixietoadstool

  1. Hello, I don't actually know where the speed camera is on the peripherique - haven't noticed it but I am pretty sure that when we go back from Ouistreham (from Vire area) there are only 2 speed limits on the peripherique - i.e. 90 or 110. The only time it is less is when it is 50 for sliproads (on and off).  I do tend to take note of speed limits and so I think I would remember a 70 limit.  I am pretty sure you can't do 135 on the peripherique anyhow! Anyhow, how will they find you - or do you have a French registered car - or am I being naive? Hope this might help the anxiety? Valerie
  2. Hi - if you try Brittany Ferries website there are some holiday offers right now - and 2 people going with a car (provided you book a hotel) can be as little as £60 or £80 for 5+ days.  Take a look at this - Hotel de la Rançonnière (near Bayeux) is in a guide book I have - the food is meant to be supreme and it is a special offer from £22 per night there at the moment.  You could have a lovely time! https://www.brittanyferries.co.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1742 Valerie  
  3. Hey Belinda - looks like you have a feast of winter chanterelles and of course the rare amethyst deceiving finger mushroom (bottom of picture) Hope you have ffurther fffine ffffungus fffffforays before the fffffffffrost comes! Valerie
  4. I have done a bit more research on this (via Google) and I am not hopeful that I will be able to stuff myself with these delicious little tubers!  Apparently they contain a lot of indigestible carbohydrate which causes the wind.  They have even more of this than beans and we know what problems those cause don't we?   So the hope is that we can eat something with them which helps to break it down - there was a suggestion about something which is derived from a mould on the internet but no-one sells it that I can find. So the answer is small amounts i.e. in moderation (I hate moderation!).  I will also try TeamedUp's suggestion of bicarb and also 0Helen's idea of adding some asafoetida which I used to have but seem to have thrown out. I shall report back! Valerie
  5. Oh yes - I can see them both today!  Fly agaric!  Never seen them growing in pots before though! Although they are poisonous they don't kill most people - they just make you hallucinate/sick (which might explain why YOU saw Papa Smurf behind one!). Apparently the effect is even greater if you drink the urine from someone who has already eaten them!  Reindeer eat them and so reindeer urine is quite valuable in Finland/Lapland (old shaman thingie!). Some say the colours inspired the Father Christmas outfit too. I myself have never tried them and don't intend to. P.S.  It has been a prolific mushroom season here in U.K. this year and hopefully still more to come.  I don't tend to have much success in France though which is a bit strange seeing as it is the mushroom capital of the world isn't it? Valerie      
  6. Sorry Belinda - I'm mad about mushrooms/fungi but your picture doesn't show up on my computer no matter what I do - any chance of trying to post again? Valerie
  7. Hi Saligo, Yes I've used it - recently bought from T K Maxx at originally exorbitant but (eventually) knock down price.  Used it the first time in the expectations of wonderful linen, perfume smelling sophisticated me thingies ... made the room smell nice for a while but ... well the linen smelled exactly the same and quite frankly the whole thing was a bit of a disappointment.  Maybe suggest it's better just putting a few drops of lavender oil in your iron instead (or whatever else takes your fancy) (gin!!!!!)!? Is this part of your house-warming/nesting thingie - if so, more power to your elbow and all that - quite understandable - happy new house and everything!!!!! Valerie      
  8. ........urrrrrgh try and find somewhere to buy a smoke detector in France........... We have them ... bought in UK and the local firemen think they are dangerous!! So should we follow the latest trends or use our common sense ... or what? Please don't criticise if you are not prepared to walk a mile in the other person's shoes! Life is not quite as simple as you seem to make out in your posting!    
  9. My neighbour has just off-loaded about 3 kg of jerusalem artichokes on my doorstep and although I adore the taste of them I hate the after-effects - i.e. severe and painful wind!!!  Does anyone know of a trick to make these delicious little vegetables a little less active on the methane producing front?  Is there a special way of cooking them?  I have been told to boil them in milk but this makes no difference to the eventual result. Any ideas gratefully received! Valerie
  10. Thanks everyone for your help.  I duly dispatched son and husband this morning on their trip to Normandy with the box/newspaper/compost instructions.  I hope it works - I particularly love the shocking pink colours and I have found that if I can keep them going for the next year they certainly flower stronger, bigger and longer than shop bought varieties. Now sitting here all on my lonesome missing my men and thinking of all the hard work I have to do here in blighty (otherwise I'd be with them!). Valerie
  11. I think the correct term is "Hon y soit qui mal y pense" - and I think it used to be (still is?) on UK coins - old pennies spring to mind. Valerie
  12. Our house in Normandy was struck by lightening this summer which damaged the TV via the aerial (€100 to fix) and caused €300 damage to the PC (only 5 months old) - the lightening came in through the modem and flambeed that plus the power supply plus the mother board - never again will I leave the modem plugged in. Can anyone please simply explain what I need - I thought a surge control protected the incoming electricity supply - not the phone line? Oh and the insurance only paid a proportion of the damage - only about €8 for the TV and €200 for the computer.  Problem is my original computer warranty is no longer valid (I took out a 3 year warranty which is now worth nothing). Valerie  
  13. Thanks for the info.  I have just one query - I bought a new state of the art computer in February and it puts out enough heat to warm my office with the door closed - so much so that I don't need to have the central heating on there.  I have been meaning to turn off all the other appliances in the house to gauge its consumption - I would anticipate it must be at least 1KwH!  I never noticed my old Dell (now 6 years old) doing this! Valerie
  14. Many many thanks to the two Ts Tootles and Tresco! I will have a go at the newspaper/compost method and if they die well hey - at least I tried! It looks like it is going to be a very hard winter and so maybe Tresco's method might not work for us - the house is more than 1000 feet up in Normandy and does get pretty chilly - we get more ice and snow there than we ever do here in Hampshire. Thanks again! Valerie  
  15. Dear Alcazar, I wanted to reply 'cos no-one else has and although I have to say I can't help you with your questions, I just thought I'd like to say I really sympathise with your problem and I don't know why on earth things are like that in life! Why You?  You seem like a really decent chap/chappess to me and maybe life is just sent to try us. Just would like to say good luck with the rest of it - we are with you! Thanks for all your kind and supportive help in the past (you probably don't remember but you have put yourself out for others in the past - I think!). Hope things start looking up for you soon (it's about time innit?!). Valerie
  16. Hi Tresco (from the Scilly Isles? - one of my favourite places (not the one in Hampton Court though!)), Thanks for your kind consideration - no I haven't left on the ferry today but husband and son are going for half term on Friday and usually we bring in the geraniums and leave them under the velux windows in the kitchen and my son's bedroom when we're not there - this way they have mostly survived but taken up valuable space when we ARE there and have also been put outside (through lack of space) one New Year's Eve only to have been forgotten overnight and frozen outside! I was under the impression that geraniums and fuchsias WOULD die without light but I was just hopeful that they wouldn't - we have several outbuildings where they could be left which would save us the trouble of carting the troughs in and out every time we visited until the risk of frost is past.  I know this sounds like I am being extremely anally retentive (oh  OK I know I am!) but I was just trying to save us all a bit of flower-die heartache in 2005!! Valerie
  17. Hello, I am still waiting to find out if it is OK to leave geraniums in a barn without windows over winter.  I posted on the previous thread about this but got no replies.  I need to make the decision soon. Please tell me whether geraniums need some kind of light to survive the winter? (I know they won't survive freezing temperatures already through experience!). Thanks in anticipation etc., Valerie
  18. [quote]Hi David -I'm not someone who gets irritated by "message in your inbox" posts because I assume there's some long convoluted story or personal approach being conveyed that needn't bother the rest of us...[/quote] I have to say I am in full agreement with Carole here!!  We should be told!!! My waistline can testify to all the lovely markets too! (P.S. Carole, I thought you were being rude about Bill's site until I realised you actually DID mean cheesy in the more rudimentary sense of the word!!). Valerie
  19. Baz. I do feel that over the years (at least 4)- it might be fair to say that many of your postings spell a little of doom-mongering - I cannot remember anything you have written which inspired people to be positive etc., (... even though this time you might be right in terms of over-saturation of the gite-market).   I do wish that maybe in the future you could maybe try posting if you have something encouraging to say because most of the time I don't even bother to read your messages any more due to past history!  I know you will not mind these criticisms since you always feel free to criticise others (liberally!) You mustn't always believe what you read in the papers you know!  Did you read the Telegraph article a few days after the recent P&O fiasco which said that house prices in Normandy were imminently crashing due to the fact that there wouldn't be any way of getting there cheaply?  The journalist was just looking for a quick result/reaction and many of his/her claims were completely fictitious and perhaps designed to put a bit of a shiver through the French holiday homes market (maybe a parallel with current claims that we will soon face a 47% drop in the value of our homes in the UK - in which case there would be a serious number of people looking for state welfare if this happened - hence IT WON'T because the government can't afford that either). A bit of positive encouragement or a more objective assessment of situations would be welcomed - from me at least - life is not black or white but a multitude of greys. Valerie  
  20. Two big markets but south of you are Villedieu les Poeles on Tuesday morning and St. Hilaire du Harcouet on Wednesday.  Villedieu is a nice place to take visitors and there are things to see (apart from the ubiquitous copper and pewter wares). St. Hilaire du Harcouet is near the Lac du Vezins and you could always follow on with lunch at The Auberge de la Selune at Ducey which is on the river and very, very reasonably priced.  At Villedieu I can also highly recommend lunch at Le Fruitier hotel which in my opinion is about the best value for money on the whole of the peninsula! You probably already knew this anyway!? Valerie
  21. Dear Guillaumy, I have just done a quick Google and came up with this website for identifying tadpoles - you go through a series of steps and it tells you what it is likely to be and one of these is a fire salamander which are certainly present in France.  It seems the main differentiators are that salamander tadpoles are large and have gills whereas the frog/toad ones don't have gills and tend to be smaller. Do have a look because it includes pictures too! http://www.whose-tadpole.net/key-to-tadpoles/tadpole01.htm Let me know if it helps? Valerie   P.S. I have just been back to the site and notice that live larvae are born up to as late as July and so they still could be developing in your well even now!
  22. I have just had a quick look on various websites via google and have found mention that the tadpoles of some species of frogs may be present every month of the year.  Could this answer your question? The other thing I was wondering was whether they might be salamander "tadpoles" - i.e. if they look a bit different from the normal frog tadpoles.  Newts, salamanders, frogs and toads all need to breed in water. I can't see your picture either! Valerie
  23. When we bought our house there was a huge typical Norman fireplace and so we really looked forward to warm cuddly evenings around the open fire.  Come the Autumn all we had was a house full of smoke (because we had shut off all the old holes in the outside walls which previously allowed the fire to draw) and we were fffffffffreezing!  However, my husband was determined to keep an open fire 'cos it looked so pretty.  When we went over just after Christmas the outside temperature went down to -9 and it was the coldest I have been for a long time - even with all the electric fires blaring. So we brought over a wood burning stove from UK (Hunter Herald bought locally for about £500 including the damper and 2 metres of pipe) and just placed it on the fireplace with a couple of metres of pipe sticking up the chimney.  Even without a register plate just having the woodburning stove was much more efficient (we had to go through another winter before we had someone put in a register plate for us).  Now just the one woodburner (14-16Kw) heats the whole of that side of the house - a room 20 feet by 20 feet plus the adjoining kitchen and including the two bedrooms above (because heat rises) and it has cut our wood consumption considerably. If you want to see a pretty fire - you can always open up the woodburner doors for a while once you have a nice strong burn going. Valerie   P.S. I expect the experts will now castigate me for not having a chimney liner etc., etc., but really the chimney is huge - a large adult could easily climb out at the top and we have it swept regularly too.
  24. ... but don't the geraniums need at least a little light too in order to survive? If not, I could just leave them in the (windowless) garage and this would save me lots of bother finding somewhere in our house for the geraniums to get some natural light over the winter when we're not there.  It's a problem because the only areas are in the kitchen and bedroom under the velux windows which clutter up the worksurfaces so we have to move them somewhere else whilst we're there.  Also it brings in lots of creepy crawlies and slugs with the pots.   Please advise!! Valerie:
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